Fuel-supply system



m' 1929. c. H. BRASELTON ET AL 1,703,984

FUEL SUPPLY SYSTEM Original Filed June 6. 1922 IN V EN TORS C/resfer/i Braid/0x7 Y Fred 5. MacL are/1 A TTORNEY Pat nted Mar. 5, 1929.

UNITED T T E S CHESTER H. BRASELTON, OF NEW YORK, AND FRED B. MACLAKEIL'OF MALBA, NEW YORK; SAID MACLAREN ASSIGNOR TO SAID BRASELTON.

FUEL-SUPPLY SYSTEM.

Application filed June 6, 1922, Serial This invention relatesto improvements in apparatus for pumping fluid, in which the vibration of a vehicle is the moving force used to'operate the pump; and more par- 5v ticularly to means for supplying gasoline to the carburetor of an automobile engine, whenthe main fuel tank is located below the level of the carburetor float. The invention is an improvement over the structure shown 1 in our co-pending application entitled Vibration operate pumping mechanism, Serial No. 533,493, filed February 1, 1922.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of means for eflectively controlling the amount of liquid pumped. A

further object ofthe invention is .the elimination offriction from the plunger action, thereby increasing the efliciency of the pump. A still further object of the invention is the provision of means for rendering the. valves tight while the pump is being primed. Other objects will appear from the description of the apparatus.

The invention consists in the several novel features set forth inthe following description and more particularly defined by the claims at the conclusion thereof.

The invention is illustrated somewhat diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing, in which-Figure I is a diagrammatic view of an automobile equipped with our device; Figure II is a sectional elevation of the pump and its enclosing gasoline reservoir; and Figure III shows a detail of 1:5 the level controlling float:

In Figure I, the numeral 1 designates the engine, 2 the carburetor, 3 'the radiator, 4 the wheels, 5 the frame, 6 the main fuel tank and 7 the steering wheel of an automobile.

-10 Omeombined pump and auxiliary tank is designated by the numeral 10 and is shown mounted on the front side of the dash-board 8. The pipe 11 connects the tank 10 with the carburetor 2, and the pipe 12 connects 4 the main fuel tank 6 with the auxiliary tank In Figure II, the numeral 13 designates the body of the tank, 14 the actuating weight, 15 the'pump plunger, 16 the supporting spring, and 17 the pump cylinder. The pump body 13 is closed at its lower end by the flanged cover 18, having formed in it the pierced bosses 19 and 20. The .boss

' 19, has soldered in ita tapped plug 21 whose upper. ,opening.is somewhat above the bot- No. 568,293. aeiiewea m 14, 1928.

tom of the cover 18. The tube 11 is threaded into the plug 21 and serves as a conduit for carrying gasoline to the carburetor This opening at a small height above the bottom of-the tank serves to revent theegress of water and sediment t rough the pipe 11. The boss 20 has soldered in it a tapped plug 22 in which is threaded a plug through the pipe 12. The eccentrically placed port 27 vallows the gasoline to flow into the pump cylinder after lifting the ball 26 from its seat, while preventing, because of its eccentricity, the stoppage of flow through it if the ball should strike the retamer. The annular chamber 28 is formed between the valve retainer and the pump cylinder 17 for the purpose of trapping a small quantity of gasoline should the Valves of the punip leak sufliciently to drain the pump chamber and co-operating with this annular chamber there is formed an annular ring 29 on" the pump plunger 15 having a very small loose fit with the valve retainer 24 on its inner surface. The valve seat 30 1S screwed into the pump plunger. 15 and serves to hold the ball 31, which acts as a discharge valve. The port 32 is drilled eccentrically with regard to the ball 31, and connects with the cross-passage 33 opening into the interior 'ofthe tank body 13.

- The tank body 13 has soldered to it the double flanged r1ng 34 which has a ridge 35 formed on its upper surface, slightl less in height than the thickness of t e cork gasket 36. The cover 37 is screwed to the flanged ring. 34 on which it is centered by the flange 38 and has formed at its center a pierced boss 39. Soldered or otherwise con nected to the cover 37 is the support 40 which forms a guide for the upper end of the pump plunger 15. On that portion of the pump plunger which is guided by the support 40 is formed sunken ratchet teeth 41- in which the'pawl 42 engages. This pawl 42 is fulcrumed in a bracket 43 formed on the sup ort 40. A float 44 of. sectbr shape is attac ed to the outer end of the pawl 42 designate similar parts shown in Figure II.

The pump plunger 15 and the attached weight 14 are supported by the spring 16 in such'a manner that they tend to remain stationary when the tank body 13 is moved quickly in a vertical direction. The spring 16 is so designed that considerable change in its deflection will be caused by a small change in the total weight of the plunger 15 and its attached part. Therefore, if the tank body 13 is raised a small amount the pump plunger having considerable inertia will tend to remain stationary and the spring 16 will be deflected somewhat more than enough to support the weight of the plunger. This surplus deflection will increase the force actin upward on the lunger which has hereto ore just balance gravity, and will tend to raise the lunger until the de fiection of the spring becomes normal. As the unbalanced torce is very small in value and a mass of the plunger and attached fparts is purposely made quite large, the

re-balancing of spring force and gravity will take place quite slowly. It will be readily seen, then, that if the movements of the tank body 13 are rapid enough the ump plungers 15 will remain substantially fixed in space and the volume of the pump chamber -will change with every movement of the tank. This change in the volume of the pump chamber in connection with the suction and discharge valve shown will cause a umping action to take lace and fluid wil be pumped into the tan body.

\Vhcn the level of the liquid in the tank is high enough to act on the'float 44 it causes the pawl 42 to engage with the rack 41, then every time the tank 13 moves upward it forcibly carries the pump plunger with it by the action of the ratchet and the pawl. ()n the downard movement, however, the pawl does not act and therefore the pump plunger will tend to be forced upward until it strikes the cover 37 and no more movement is possible. Pumping action will then be stopped as the tank and plun er will move together until the level of t e liquid in the tank has been lowered by the action of the carburetor and the float releases the pawl and allows the plun er and tank body to have that relative motion which causes the pumping action.

It has been found that, when other types of control using fluid friction have been used, a certain amount of air damping is present at all times and this requires a relatively large weight if small vibrations are to .be utilized for pumping effect or else a quite large reservoir is necessary to form a reserve between periods of suiliciently strong vibration to operate the pump. Therefore, our improved type of control, using a float to stop the relative motion of the plunger instead of a fluid damper increases the elficiency of the apparatus by decreasing the amount of air friction, and requires less weight in the inertia element for the re quired amount of pumping.

If the automobile has been left standing for, some time the suction and discharge valves tend to leak and drain the gasoline in the tank down to the top of the pump cylinder 17. Although no more gasoline can 'flow out of the tank body 13 when this point is reached the passage through the plunger and the )ump cylinder will be emptied by this lea age. If then, when first starting the car, smooth roads are encountered and vibrations of small amplitude result, the air in the connection 12 and the pump cylinder will be forced out very slowly because of the tendency of the valves to leak excessively when pumping air and because small vacuum is produced with the large clearance in the pump cylinder, resulting from the small stroke. The leakage of the valves will be largely reduced by wetting them with gasoline and this is accomplished by having a small pool of gasoline trapped between the pump cylinder 17 and the valve retainer 24 into which the projecting annular ring 29 on the pump plunger will move, causing some of the gasoline to be splashed over into the valve chamber, thus forming a liquid seal and stopping the leakage. In Figure II, the level .of the gasoline is shown above the weight and a position higher than normal is taken by the pump plunger because of the tendency of the inertia element to float. The pressure on the spring 16 being reduced by the weight of the liquid lisplaccd which causes the plunger to rise until the decreased force of the spring balances the dccrcuscd pressure of the weight. llowevcr, when the tank has bccn drained down to the levi-l of the top of the pump cylinder this lloating lendcncy will be practically eliminated and the normal position of the inertia element will be much lower than that shown in the drawing, 50 low in fact that the projection 29 will have entered the recess 28 and the very slightest vibration or relative movement of the inertia element and pump cylinder will cause splashing of the gasoline in the annular chamber 28 and thus sealing the valve. The discharge valve will also be sealed because some of the liquid splashed on its ill) under surface will adhere and some of the liquid will be carried through by the air forced out of the pump chamber, and being caught by the top part of this valve chamber will drop down on the ball valve and flow around it to seal its seat.

The ridge is formed on the flanged ring 34 for the purpose of holding the cover .37 and its attached guide square and in alignment with the pump cylinder 17, while allowing the gasket 36 to be compressed enough to seal the joint. Without this ridge, the gasket might be compressed unevenly and the support 40 would not lineup with the pump cylinder and excessive friction and binding would result.

What we claim is:

1. In fuel feed system, the combination of a taiilk casing having inlet and outlet apertures, and apump positioned within said casing, said pump comprising a cylinder, a

plunger movable within and forming a pump chamber with said cylinder, an outlet conduit from said 'pump chamber, a valve in said conduit, an inertia controlled element secured to the plunger, and a float controlled ratchet mechanism connected to said plunger and adapted to prevent relative movement between the plunger and cylinder when the fuelin said tankhas reached a predetermined level. v

2. In a fuel feed system, the combination of a tank casing having inlet and outlet apertures; and a pum positioned over the inlet aperture within t e casing; said pump having a c linder, a plunger movable within said cylin er, an outlet condult in the plunger, valves in said inlet aperture and outlet conduit, means for reciprocating said plunger, and means for maintaining a liquid seal on said valves, saidvmeans including an upwardly extending chamber containing said inletaperture, the chamber having a diameter less than the diameter of the pump cylinder whereby an annular recess or the re tention of theliquid is provided.

3. In a fuel feed system, the combination of a tank; and a reciprocating pump within the tank; said tank comprising a cylinder, a plunger movable within said cylinder and forming an inner chamber therewith, inlet and outlet conduits to said chamber, inertia controlled means for moving said plunger, and means controlled by the movement of liquid in the tank for preventing relative displacement between the cylinder and plunger.

4. In a fuel feed system, the combination of a tank; a movable support to which said tank is rigidly secured;"reci pr0cating ump mechanism positioned within said ta in-1 eluding cylinder and plunger elements; a weight fixed to the plunger; a spring adapted to bear on the weight and yieldingly hold the same in normal position, said weight being adapted ,to be moved relative to the cylinder through movement of the support;

and means dependent upon the supply of anism for making said pump inoperative when the fuel tank supply has exceeded a predetermined value.

7. In a fuel feed system, the combination of a tank, a pump discharging into said tank and including a cylinder and a plunger movable therein, a resiliently supported weight secured to said plunger, and a float controlled ratchet mechanism acting on said plunger and adapted to prevent relative movement between the plunger and cylinder when the liquid in said tank reaches a predetermined level.

8( In a fuel feed system, the combination of a tank, a pump discharging into said tank and including a movable plunger means for' actuating said plunger, am a float controlled ratchet mechanism .acting on said plunger and adapted to prevent pumping movements thereof when theliquid in said tank reaches a predetermined level.

9. Ina fuel feed system, the combination of a tank, a pump discharging into said tank and including a cylinder and a plunger movable therein, inlet and discharge valves for said pump, means for actuating said plunger, and means for maintaining a liquid seal on said valves, said'means including a recess formed between the pump cylinder and inlet valve casing adapted to cooperatively receive an annular rim formedon the edge of the adjacent'face of the pump plunger.

'10. In a fuel feed mechanism, the combination of a tank, an inertia-actuated pump discharging into said tank, and ratchet means for rendering said pump inoperative when the liquid exceeds a predetermined level in said tank. f

In testimony whereof, we afiixour signatures.

CHESTER H. BRASELTON. FRED B. MACLARElN. 

